His Lyre
by My Black Requiem
Summary: Merle is the best there is. At work, she is known to complete every assignment given to her with ease. But what happens when she's asked to steal the God of the Sun's precious lyre? She finds out things are more difficult than they sound...
1. Mission Impossible

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Greek Mythology. I do not own Absolute Boyfriend. I do not own much. Hell, I don't even own my soul. That belongs to the highest bidder on EBay. So far, I'm up to twenty dollars and a used popsicle stick! Hurray!

**Author's Note: **The plotbunnies made me do it! I swear on my soul...oh wait, no...scratch that. Anyways, this story is a little...weird. I really don't expect it to go that far-but if you're really passionate about me continuing then please let me know. Either way, I'll just play this by ear and see how I'm feeling about it at the end of the chapter.

Yes, the concept of "Absolute Boyfriend" does come into play here. No, we don't get to see Night. Night is Riiko's. Not mine. If he was in this story anyways, his circuits (if he has any...I'm up to book three in the manga) would fry.

Later on, Kingdom Hearts the AU whore comes into the picture too. You may roast me over your open flames after you read this, alright?

Oh, by the way… The main character's thoughts are in italics.

**Chapter One: Mission Impossible**

"How much do you know about section twenty one, sub-section ninety-nine double A?"

She was back here again... How many times had she been here? Personally, she'd stopped counting awhile ago when her caseload was lighter and was only in the double digits. While that seemed harsh, compared to what she had to endure now it sounded like Heaven! And every day that went by brought in more work. Sometimes she wished she never went into this "career" of sorts. Why didn't she settle for social worker or business manager?

"...Not much. I've never been there before."

She never got a single, fucking vacation. Not one! When she'd signed up for this it was in her contract that she was guaranteed at least two weeks of paid TLC! Whatever happened to that? Did it just jump off the page to go visit all the other worker's rights that were obviously missing as well?!

"Perfect-

I'm going to pause this for a second. I kinda lept abit ahead and you're probably wondering what the hell is going on here. So, let's start over again, shall we? Hi! My name is Merle Tyrel Conlan and I'm here to tell you my story... Well, actually, it's a lot of people's stories. Life is one, big story and we are the words. Without the words, there is no story. Without the story, the words loose meaning. But really, I'm the only one left who remembers it.

I work for I.D.A.F.A. The Inter-Dimensional Administration of Foreign Affairs. It's purpose is to protect the interests of "underdeveloped worlds". This agency became necessary after the discovery of the "rabbit hole" (as we like to call it. It's basically a rip in time and space allowing one to travel freely between different worlds. Pretty nifty, huh?) and the connection of the worlds. With this discovery, many things have transpired. Many wonderful things...but for every wonderful thing, one just as bad. Now that the bonds of each dimension's walls no longer trap us, we are free. Sort of. There are rules as to where one can visit. Only those worlds within the "Worlds Alliance" may be visited. After a certain incident with a certain someone who went to a certain underdeveloped world and caused certain mayhem to ensue, the law now states that anyone found meddling in the affairs with a underdeveloped world will be punished severely.

I am the exception to that rule.

Within the Administration there exists a certain group called Section X. I'm not quite sure why...it probably has to do with the fact that they take away your identity upon initiation and give you a new ('more unique!' so says my co-worker) name. All they do is take the letters of your name and scramble them and then add an X. It's really not that creative at all. I happen to really hate the name that they came up for me. I sorta think it's Karma come to haunt me. So, if you're lucky enough to make it to Section X, you too can have those you hold dear ripped away from you, the life you knew torn in half, and every record that you ever existed erased forever. On the plus side, you get a cool, new name!

…No, I'm not bitter. I had nothing left to loose when I joined. I'm just stating a fact.

Section X is the work-horse of I.D.A.F.A. While they're eating fish eggs and drinking expensive champagne, we're saving worlds. While they're spending tax money on totally legitimate reasons like a weekend get away to some tropical paradise, we're traveling into the uncharted depths of an unknown world to prevent an apocalypse…without the hopes of a FUCKING VACTION! This is why I hate bureaucrats. This is also why I should've never taken this job.

With all this enthusiasm about my career choice, you can imagine how I felt when my boss did this-

"-then it's settled! Thanks Merxel, I don't know what I would've done without you!"

Her eyes narrowed just slightly "It's Merle. Just Merle. And what do you mean 'it's settled'?"

The man sitting opposite of her shuffled through a messy stack of folders that lay upon his desk and after a few minutes found what he was looking for. He leaned over and placed it in front of the girl.

"Your new assignment!" He said cheerfully, a smile spread wide across his face "The details are all in-don't look at me that way, think of it as an-"

"Yeah, yeah…I know. 'An adventure'"

Yeah… Emphasis on the adventure part. Sure…

She stood up, grabbing the wretched folder while grumbling as was about to turn to leave when the boss spoke up. His usual light-hearted tone was missing and was now replaced with a more dark, serious attitude. "You know, I understand that you're having a rough time. Given the things you've gone through, you're entitled to it…but don't overstress yourself and don't blame yourself for what happened. That's what starts burnout. You're one of the best we have. We don't want to loose you."

The girl's face contorted into what appeared to be half-way between a frown and a smirk. Of course, the man couldn't see it because her back was facing him.

"You've been reading those 'self-help' books again, haven't you?"

xXx

Merle walked with an air of gloom about her. You could almost see the cartoon storm cloud pouring a river of water down on her. A river of doom.

"'Don't overstress yourself' he says!" She exclaimed, mimicking her boss in an overly-exaggerated high-pitched voice. "'We don't want to loose you'! Stupid…little…"

After mumbling various death-threats under her breath and scaring the nice, new intern who had unfortunately chosen to get on the elevator with her, she made her way to the hangar-

We're stopping here too. The hangar is the designated "hang-out" area for Section X- although I.D.A.F.A. insists that we use the lounge room for our antics. It makes sense though. I mean, we all practically live in our ship being that most of the time we're off on missions and all.

And upon entering was tackled to the ground by…well, she couldn't tell seeing as how the impact on the cold, cement floor was making her see stars.

"Merxel!" exclaimed a cheery voice "You're back! How was that last mission? Did you kick some bad guy booty? Did you bring me back a present?"

Of all the Section X members, Xiagio is THE MOST carefree. Although it pisses me off, I have to admit that if we didn't have her the angst would swallow us whole. Most of the "antics" that happen in the hangar are instigated by her-like the teepeeing of all the ships that happened last month. There was so much toilet paper… To this day she still wont tell me how she got all of that toilet paper. I envy Xiagio a lot. Despite what's happened, she looks at life positively. And even if she does have her moments, she always seems to bounce right back from them. It's amazing…to me at least.

"Mrph, Mmrpph!"

"What?"

"Uh," interrupted a rather tall lad with long, silken hair "You might want to get off of her… I don't know but I think it'll help…"

That's Alxonn. He's our resident Mr. Brood-A-Lot. I bet that he could power a whole city with his brooding. We could use it as an alternative fuel…but then, it might release angst into the atmosphere-or lack of it-since you know, we're in outer space. Oh, wait! I never told you! I.D.A.F.A.'s main headquarters is in outer space above Medias, the home-planet of the "World's Alliance". It's kinda cool…if you're not afraid of heights-which I am!

The girl who was currently being smothered suddenly pushed off her offender. "No, I didn't."

The perky girl looked somewhat hurt but brightened back up again "Did you bring me a stuffed animal? Or maybe a relic of some sort? I like those-"

Xiagio collects curios. In fact, she has so many I think they gave her her own storage unit to house it all in. I don't know what the deal is with this obsessive collecting. I never really paid attention to it until she started annoying me about it.

"Listen. Use your listening ears, okay? I. Don't. Have. A. Present. Okay?"

"Why not!"

And some times, she acts like a child if she's not compensated for her services-although what exactly those "services" are is beyond me.

"BECAUSE I DON'T!" The other girl shouted angrily

"Well," Xiagio said in a quiet voice, bowing her head and laying on such a guilt trip that Merle felt somewhat guilty "I got you a present. I got you a big present."

Her "spidy senses" were tingling. Something was up. She regarded her suspiciously and asked "What kind of present?"

"The good kind!"

"Okay, that tells me nothing. Now what is it?"

"You're just going to have to open it and find out!"

"Well, where is it?"

The girl giggled, "You're going to have to look! It'll be like a treasure hunt!"

I usually try to stay away from getting angry at her. I mean, she's the only thing that keeps this Section from drowning in their own "tragic pasts" but…I couldn't help it…

"Ugh," Merle growled "I don't have time for this! I'll see you guys later. Bye."

And with that, the peeved female stormed off in the direction of a large, red ship, leaving the other two alone. Alxonn looked at his co-worker coolly and then to the angered girl who was now preparing the spacecraft for her newest mission.

"So, you think that this will work?" He said, his voice hushed a bit "I mean, she's been like this for…well, ever since we've known her."

The large, green eyes of the girl besides him seemed to stare right through anything presented to it; at the moment, it was Merle. She sighed, shaking her head "She's locked everything up so tight inside of her, she's about to break. The boss and I thought it would be good for her to go on a…vacation of sorts. It might help her, you know, feel again."

"And what about the present?"

"Oh," she replied "That will help too. I'm sure he'll be able to help…"

xXx

I never explained the term "underdeveloped world" did I? Well, allow me to elaborate. A world qualifies for the term underdeveloped when it's resident civilization is at the lower end of the "technologically advanced" scale. To put it simple, worlds that are too dumb to even BEGIN to consider the possibility of different realities as a serious issue earn the clever title "underdeveloped". These worlds are basically the Special Eds of the universe and it is I.D.A.F.A.s job to play their babysitter.

It's MY job to play their babysitter.

Some people look at these worlds as a sort of uncharted territory in which Manifest Destiny sings out a siren's call and beckons them to come and exploit a planet's natural resources for their own benifit. Some people regard them as a threat…even though it's people are probably still trying to event the wheel, they're somehow going to build a weapon of mass destruction and unleash it's nonexistent power on us. Some people think of them as a nuisance and couldn't care less whether they crash and burn, as long as it doesn't effect them, they're okay.

I'd probably be the last one. If it wasn't for I.D.A.F.A, I wouldn't give a crap. But since they pay me to care, I at least put up with them. Don't get me wrong though, they're as annoying as one of those digital pets.

The girl stared at the computer screen for a long time, reading the words over and over again. She thought that maybe if she read them enough times, she'd somehow come up with a different answer or that the words would magically rearrange themselves into something new. But…that wasn't the case. The words never moved and shifted into what she wanted to see. They just stood there mocking her with their existence. Merle sat in the pilot's seat in the bridge of her airship, the Ragnarok. All around her were computer screens that were inbuilt into the walls and holographic maps of different areas that were powered by the glowing crystal balls that hovered in midair. It was something you'd see out of an extreme sci-fi movie on a late Sunday night. She sat in shock. The source of this shock lay right there in front of her on the computer screen.

'Case File: 217,580,900

Section twenty-one, sub-section ninety-nine double A, area forty-six.

Mission assignment: Retrieve Apollo's Lyre.'

Her mission assignment was to waste precious airship fuel to obtain some random musical instrument from some random person! Her boss had sent her on a wild goose chase! A pointless search that was the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack! Just what did the boss need with a stupid musical instrument anyways? Was he taking up music lesions? Was this going to be like his bottle caps obsession in which I.D.A.F.A. went through a year's worth of crème soda in a week just so that the Boss could finish his collection and shut up about the whole thing? He had been known to assign missions for completely selfish reasons-like getting him lunch. Apparently the whole universe would explode if he didn't get a double cheese burger in a half an hour.

That's also his favorite game to play with newly initiated Section X members.

This WHOLE thing smelled fishy…but then, who was she to argue? She was assigned a mission and it was her job to carry it out to the best of her ability. It wasn't her place to ask questions but she still had to wonder: why did she feel so weird about the whole thing?

Merle grabbed the nearest floating crystal ball and tapped on it's surface lightly with her fingertips, causing the computer to scroll down a bit. At the same time, she leafed through the mass of papers in the folder her boss had given her, looking down occasionally and rereading certain parts over again. The information was vague. Apparently, this "Apollo" was the legendary god of the sun, healing, music, and prophesy who was featured in the ancient polytheistic religion of the Greeks, a civilization that lived a thousand years ago on the planet Earth. Of course, there were many "versions" of that particular planet and what little data she had said nothing about WHICH one it had originated from. After all, she was a former "Earthling" herself and she'd heard nothing about the ancient Greeks (although there once was a country on her planet NAMED Greece)-of course, she never really paid much attention in history class when she decided to attend.

Another major problem lay in the fact that no where in the information in the folder or on the computer even mentioned Apollo's lyre! There was nothing as to what it looked like or where to find it-just that it was supposedly enchanted and that he carried it around with him a lot. Not very reliable information considering it sounded more like an imaginative fairytale out of a kid's book. Because although many things existed in the universe, she refused to believe in a truly divine being. This "Apollo" was probably some over-glorified punk who had some psychic ability of sorts. And seeing as how this was an underdeveloped planet, it's dumb inhabitants probably worshipped this loser like he was something special. Well, thinking positively, she supposed that finding this idiot would be easy-just look for the guy with the biggest ego. That shouldn't be hard.

How hard would it be to steal a lyre anyways?

It was harder than I thought…

xXx

Well, I think it went okay. What about you? Tell me what you think. Review and I'll love you forever.


	2. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Greek Mythology, Absolute Boyfriend, the song lyrics to "Local God", or much of anything. But please, feel free to bid on my soul which is still up for grabs. Who wants my soul? Anyone? (echo) Anybody? Heeelllooo?

**Author's Note: **Sorry that it took so long! I don't have much access to the computer or the internet so when I'm offline and all, I write everything by hand on paper. Pretty sucky, huh? Thanks to those who reviewed, I decided to actually write another chapter. Hmm…didn't think people would actually LIKE this thing.

Oh yeah, by the way… The last chapter lacked italics. I noticed this AFTER I posted it. Sorry about that. I'll try and fix it!

**Chapter Two: A Series of Unfortunate Events**

Among all who could boast Godhead, none sang more beautifully or more sweetly than radiant Apollo. Throughout the halls of Mount Olympus, his song inspired one to dance as well as one to weep tears of sorrow. Mankind could be rendered speechless by his melody and there was much worshipping of him by those who yearned for his tutelage-for only he could teach one fully about the art of music.

With one strum of his lyre he could move the stars.

At the moment, he was using his talent for a slightly less noble purpose (than teaching ignorant mortals his forte) of seducing a young nymph who he found to be extremely attractive.

Second only to Zeus, Apollo was quite the womanizer. Although less open than his father, the golden-haired youth had chased his fair share of the opposite sex. Brunettes, blondes, red-heads…it didn't matter. He lusted for one after another like a hungry wolf. Despite the fact that he cared for the lot of the girls that he pursued in his own way, once he grew bored that was the end of it. He'd move on to the next new unfortunate female. All it really was was lust…pure, uninhibited lust.

The newest sensation was laying next to him, her body pressed up against him so that he could feel the softness of her breasts against his bare, tan flesh. It felt good. No matter how many times he felt it, it would always feel good.

"Apollo, sing me another one!" the demi-diety exclaimed, tugging on his toga lightly "Plleease!"

He sighed and without thinking went into another song that was neither his favorite or his least favorite-it was just the only song he could think of at the time. She had heard his favorites and now it was getting down to a wire. Despite him being a God, there was still limitations. He could honestly swear that even he was tiring of his lyre.

xXx

"Be my Romeo. Please be my voice in this world. I can't sing the songs that you sing. I can't find the gorgeous words. Will you be my Romeo? My go-go Romeo? I see you twist and turn. You look so stupid!"

_Did I ever mention that when I'm drunk I sing really random songs?_

"I feel just like a local God when I'm with the boys! We do what we want. Yes, we do what we want! I feel just like a local God when I'm with the boys! We do what we want! Yes, we do what we want!"

_Obnoxiously?_

The bridge smelt of cheap liquor and irony as Merle danced around and sang the lyrics of the song playing on her CD. In terms of musical talent, there was much to be desired. Her voice cracked as she hit a particularly high note in her vocal range which sent her into massive fits of laughter. Usually this "laughter" wouldn't occur in her but…she was drunk.

_Things are much funnier when you have enough booze in you to drown your pet goldfish in. _

And when she was drunk, everything was pretty damn funny. To her, at least.

You see, I have this "problem"- 

This sudden transformation had been brought on by a great many things. First of all, the missions themselves. To know that she was solely responsible for the safety of an entire world…no matter how many missions she undertook (unwillingly most of the times) it always threw her. It was something she felt she'd probably feel for the rest of her career…that unbearable cross upon her shoulders that told her just how weighty her actions were. Every move she made would change that planet's future. How could someone like her save a world when she couldn't even…

But it's really not a problem at all because I don't have any problems! 

Another was that despite her high position in Section X and the Administration, she was still only a teenager. The tender age of eighteen to be exact. They had made an exception in recruiting her and expected that she would act accordingly-like a mature adult. Even though she had gave up the world of childhood ages before Section X, she always had that pressure to be better than anyone else. To be more skilled, poised, prepared, and "grounded" as possible. There was so much more… So many problems that they all seemed to mix into each other.

And so to fix her problem-

_I like alcohol._

She drank like an army of champion sailors.

"Be my Romeo! Tell me all about your love. Tell me all about your pain. Baited breath and rubber gloves. Be my Romeo. My go-go Romeo! I see you twist and turn and you look so FUCKING STUPID!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, emphasizing the last two words with extra gusto.

_A lot._

"Arrival of set destination in approximately fifteen minutes."

The computer stimulated voice of a rather cold-sounding female startled Merle out of her sad rendition of "Local God" by a band from her planet. Although it was deemed old, outdated, and "lame" by some of her co-workers, she couldn't help but listen to the sounds of the place she'd called home. Maybe it was some way of holding on to a memory of times past. Despite Xiagio and Alxonn's best efforts to immerse her in contemporary music, she clung to her retro CDs like a security blanket. Well, that and a good bottle of any alcoholic beverage she could obtain.

"Yeah, yeah…" The girl replied, talking to non-existent voice "I know. Remember, I'm the one piloting the ship-not you!"

Which was untrue since the ship was on auto-pilot.

_It can solve all problems_.

She went to take another gulp of the rather large bottle she held in her hand and realized after a couple seconds that it was empty. When it had disappeared was a mystery. She had swore that she had only just opened it up. Why did the alcohol always have to run away from her? It wasn't like she was going to bite it's head off or anything… Swearing, she got up and stumbled out of the bridge and to her secret stash of booze.

_My co-workers have no idea that the Ragnarok is probably one of the universe's only time and space traveling wet bar. _

This secret stash was Merle's pride and joy.

_And I'm willing to bet that it's the best damn wet bar there ever was._

It was hidden in a secret compartment in the closet of her bedroom. Of course, she never really used her bedroom (or her bed for that matter) because she hardly ever slept for long periods of time. She couldn't remember the last time she ever had a good night's sleep and she was starting to think that such a thing didn't exist.

But as she entered her bedroom, she saw something that didn't quite belong…

_I think that this was when things started their downwards spiral. Into Hell._

It was a large box with the words "Kronos Haven" and "Fantasy Lover Series" and then some random numbers that she didn't even pay attention to. The girl walked over to it, inspecting it, and then let out a VERY delayed "What the fuck?!" She didn't remember putting THIS here. She wasn't that drunk to forget something like that…or so she thought.

_I had forgotten about Xiagio's present…_

So, not thinking the way she usually did (which was to over think and strategize everything like a chess game), she decided to open the box.

_Had I remembered, I probably would've just sent it right back to her without even checking to see what it was._

What was odd was that the front was situated in such a way that the only way she could open it correctly would to be to stand on top of her bed and cut the packaging tape that held it together.

_And like an idiot, I walked into that clever little trap of hers…_

Producing her switch blade (which was still illegal-even though it was so outdated that nearly no one bothered to use them anymore), she slit the bonds of the mysterious package free and-

_And got attacked by…_

Out came a ridiculous amount of bows, ruffles, brightly colored confetti, styrofoam chunks, and the body of a comatose seventeen year old boy.

_My first "boyfriend"._

Handicapped by the extraordinary amount of booze, Merle didn't move out of the way on time (because of the information delay) and the boy's face met hers. For a second, their lips touched…and it must've been her imagination but something like a connection formed between the two. Just for a second.

_It was perhaps the most awkward situation I'd ever been in._

They both landed on the mattress of the bed, the male's full body weight on hers so that she was pinned beneath him. The girl was in shock and she lay there like a broken puppet, the strings cut and laying all around her. The boy shifted and opened his eyes, meeting her eyes that (by now) were as wide as dinner plates.

"Hello, girlfriend." He smiled pleasantly

The information clicked just then and Merle screamed (a scream to wake the dead) and administered to the foreign creature a sizable bitchslap across the face. The guy's expression now matched the girl's and even more so when said girl pushed him off and hightailed it to the other side of the bedroom.

"Wh-what the… What the fuck?!"

"Hmm? What's wrong?" He tilted his head as he asked the question, adding to his "cuteness factor" by ten billionzillion

And oh, he was more than just cute…

The first and foremost thing that was noticeable was his eyes. He had these magnificently green eyes and seemed like endless pools-the color of a leaf when the sun's light penetrates through it. His hair was a waterfall of wavy, raven locks that fell to his shoulders. His skin was bronzed and his face was a tad bit feminine-but he made up for it with his body which was ALL male.

_And why would I know it's "all male", you ask? It was "all male" because…_

Because he was completely naked.

Shock gave way to embarrassment and anger. She ripped off the top blanket of her bed and shoved it in his hands. "Cover up, Goddamnit!"

"Did I do something-"

"YOU'RE not going to be DOING ANYTHING! You're going to take your ass and get it dressed and then leave!" Merle roared, pushing the guy out the door and slamming it shut at the speed of light.

There was a dead silence and then…

"But I don't have any clothes."

_By that time I was just about to go insane._

"Well, where ARE your clothes?!"

"They're inside the box, I think."

_Oops! There it goes. Goodbye sanity! _

A long pause and then "Fine! Get your clothes and THEN leave!"

She tried not to look as he came in but she had to say, as a female, he was extremely attractive. In fact, it made her jealous. Compared to him, she was just a "Plain Jane". And if one wanted to be rude one could point out that she had always been a Plain Jane and that she didn't need to compare herself to a male model to realize that.

_I tried not to look…_

That little devil on her shoulder was speaking to her conscious again. It was telling her to look at him. The estrogen inside on her was thrashing itself against the walls of her tight self control to just take one peek at the naked form of this perfect boy from the box.

_I tried…_

"Don't look. Don't look. Don't look." She repeated over and over in her head

_And I failed miserably. _

She finally gave in and snuck a peek at him. He just happened to be bent over looking for his clothes which shouldn't have taken this long to find. There wasn't a vast amount of box to search for an outfit. It was then she noticed something around his neck. A bow and a little card that hung from it. There were words scribbled there…but she wasn't close enough to read.

"…What's on your neck?" Merle asked, a little suspicious

He stopped and faced her and she looked away, her face fast turning a bight shade of crimson.

"Oh! This?"

"No, the other thing on your neck. Of course that!"

He frowned a bit and tore off the paper, reading out loud the following words that would send Merle into a raging hissy fit:

_Looking back on it, Fate has such good timing that it's bad. _

"I thought you might enjoy my present!"

Present…

Xiagio.

Merle put two and two together and…

_Because at that moment, the Ragnarok would begin to crash…signaling the start of something that I would've never considered: Love._

XXx

He was now to the point of improvision; singing words that popped into his head. Of course, being the God he was, he could pull this off with ease where as for everyone else it would just send one walking down the broad path of humiliation. Yes, oh so fortunately for him, he'd never once walked down it-except for at this exact moment when he suddenly brainfarted and lost his track of mind. Consequently, he lost his track of words too and his once nimble fingers turned to much, making him strike a sour chord on his lyre…if such a thing was possible.

"Apollo?"

Then again, there was always a first time for everything.

"Ap-"

And then another unexpected event!

At that moment, the sky tore open, releasing a vortex of blinding colors and ear-splitting sound that seemed to rival Zeus's thunderbolt. And even though the golden-haired boy was the living, breathing avatar of the sun's brilliance, and held a powerful and mighty position upon Mt. Olympus, he found himself wincing from the fury of it…which was a very "un-Godly" thing to do. The nymph had somehow fused herself to him and was now screaming her head off. And he would've found this a blessing beings that in a regular situation he could take advantage and play the "superhero" but there was nothing regular about this at all…

It plummeted to Gaia like Heaven's reject, a big, red something that vaguely resembled the monster Tiamat-except that it was made out of metal. Heavy, black smoke emitted from various places as well as tongues of bright flame that formed a visible trail behind it as it fell…right into his sacred orchard grove. Almost half of the laurel and olive trees so important to him were decimated in an instant and the other half very badly damaged and were burning. Apollo looked on in horror as the collective screech of both tree and the nymphs who inhabited them rose to fever pitch, wailing as they breathed their last and became ashes. The demi-goddess beside him, who was holding onto him and that he had come to fancy, never got to say goodbye as she burst into a pillar of fire and disintegrated. His beautiful orchard had now become a hellish disaster with no hint of the beauty it once possessed. Lying in the middle, midst the fiery ruins of peace and tranquility, was the harbinger of catastrophe: the mysterious red, metal monster from the skies… A red, metal monster that he intended to slay.

XXx

The world was flashing bloody red. Somewhere in the distance an alarm rang out. A cold-sounding woman's voice kept repeating words…what were those words? Fatal System Error…that's all she could manage to understand before they became jumbled in the mess of her consciousness. She lay on the ground amid the wreckage of the bridge where she had tried to steer the Ragnarok into a safe landing spot before the whole thing gave out. A warm and sticky substance surrounded her, tainting her clothes with the same color of her ship. But surprisingly, she didn't feel much except for the slightest hint of pain…and even that was fading too. It was like she had separated herself from her body and she could only feel the shadows of the things of the physical world.

_Maybe it was better that I was drunk…_

A shuffle of feet in the distance. Someone was shaking her.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"

The voice was vaguely familiar but she didn't give it much thought. Right now all she wanted to do was drift in this blissful feeling of nothingness forever.

"Wake up, please!"

Whoever it was sure sounded upset. She wondered what was wrong.

_Because I probably would've been in a lot of pain if I hadn't been._

"Please…don't die…"

Die? Who was dying? What was wrong? Oh well, it wasn't her problem. Maybe if she waited longer, she'd find out who was dying…she could use some entertainment.

_I was lucky…_

And then another voice popped up. She strained to hear. The more she stayed in this state of detachment, the more faint everything became.

_And now…_

Now things were down to a near whisper. Now the familiar voice replied…something…she couldn't make it out. The two of them were discussing something. She tried to open her eyes but her willpower seemed to be lacking and the best she could do was crack them open a little bit. Blurred, the image wasn't very clear but Merle thought she saw someone standing above her. Someone golden and wrapped in brilliant white. It hurt her eyes…the color of the snow. She didn't recognize this person. Who were they?

_My luck was about to run out._

That was the last thought she had before she slipped into unconsciousness, the thought hanging on the edge of her mind as she fell into a deep sleep.

XXx

**FoxLuvr:** Thank you for the compliment. I really didn't know how this would turn out and all. I thought it would be a complete and total flop. Again, sorry for being so late. I don't have steady internet access and I'm also a perfection per say. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Ham337dd:** Ha! I try to be funny…but not enough to send me to a mental institution!


	3. The Trouble With Having Pets

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Greek Mythology. I do not own Absolute Boyfriend. I wish I owned all of Apollo's herd of cattle so I could make my own steak house…but my lucky star keeps on telling me that it's not THAT lucky. Damn!

**Author's Note: **Sorry that this took so long. You see, I've been going through a person crisis and all…not very fun really. But I finally got this out and I think the updates will be more regular from now on. But I have a story crisis on my hands right now-and it's _big_.

What should I name sexy "box-boy" (as I've come to call him)? I have no name for him. Hell, I mean, even Riiko had a name for _her_ model!

But I can't (for the life of me) think of a name! Please, if any of you think of a good idea, tell me? My friend thought that I should name him after a liquor, having Merle one day proclaim that she wants a certain type of alcohol and that he misinterprets it as himself. That might be fun but I haven't really found anything that fits…if you know what I mean.

Anyways, thank you for your reviews and enjoy!

**Chapter Three: The Trouble With Having Pets…**

"You WHAT?!"

Although no one wanted to say it, (for fear of painful death…or worse, life) Hera, Queen of All, should've been the Goddess of death, spite, and fury all rolled up into one neat, little package. Men whispered in their quiet corners of the awful Furies and Hell-hags that tormented the mortal world and dared not speak their true names for fear of attracting them and yet they spoke his step-mother's name with such ease… It was ironic, really. Did the fools not see that the smarter choice would be to run into the welcoming arms of the "hags" they so despised then to stand against the all-consuming rage of the She-beast? Did they not realize that compared the Hera, those defiled spawn of the Underworld were celestial maidens?

No…they didn't. But they would if they were here now observing the maturing twitch his "mother's" right eye.

"I…" Apollo started, ever-present confidence becoming not-so-present anymore.

"_You_ brought a _mortal_ to Olympus?! To our HOME?!"

He knew the rule: no mortals ever upon the homestead of the Gods. Not ever his REAL mother, Leto, was allowed to step foot upon it's golden foundation. She had to live outside the crystal gates…just near enough to claim immortality but far enough to still remain semi-mortal. A demi-goddess…in other words.

"Yes…" He sighed in defeat

"And just WHAT were you thinking?! Mortals DO NOT belong in the realm of the Gods!"

Just what _was_ he thinking?! Normally he would've notched an arrow straight into the offending girl's heart and yet…when he saw her… When he saw that girl laying there amid her own blood something from within stilled his blood-lust. Maybe it was the lust in his toga. Or maybe it was something else. But whatever it was, it stopped him from releasing painful death upon her. But he couldn't figure out what that feeling was that forced him into action. There was no right explanation for it at all…not a thing to justify it.

…There was also no justification for his healing her and taking her, her red, metal abomination and a certain black-haired pest (yes, "box-boy") to Olympus with him.

"Now Hera," the male besides her interjected, his eyes holding a certain gleam in them "let's not be hard on the boy! Apollo was simply acting in benevolence towards a mortal who had done him ill. Apollo should be _praised_ for his generous act of kindness!"

He didn't like it…that gleam in his father's eyes.

The Queen of Heaven crossed her arms over her chest "She can't be here. I won't allow it. "

That gleam meant he was up to something. He'd seen it one too many times…

"She can't go back, honey, she's seen the crystal gates-"

"Then erase her memory."

"Now, now…messing with mortal's memories could be-"

"_WHY_ are you _defending _a mortal?!"

"I'm not _defending-"_

"Yes you are!"

Like a mouse, Apollo decided that now would be a perfect opportunity to take his leave (silently and quickly) but…today the nasty Sisters Fate didn't agree. He was caught before he made it even four steps. For some unknown reason, his parents could hear his silent, retreating footsteps every time they got in a fight like this.

"Apollo! You will stay here and not leave! Your Father may do that but you will certainly not take such an attitude with me!" His scary mother exclaimed "You were the cause of this…this…mess! Now, you clean it up! I demand that you dispose of that mortal girl _this instant!"_

"I will not let you do that, Hera." The white-haired (yet youthful) man protested in an even and firm voice "Simply killing a mortal because of a bad decision on Apollo's part doesn't seem fair-"

"Since _when _have you ever worried about being "fair"?!"

The man continued, ignoring the woman besides him "So, I believe that we should hold a meeting and see how everyone else feels about this-"

"I demand this girl off my-"

"-That way it'll be fair. If the majority vote to throw her off then you may have your wish…however, if I should…I mean, if everyone else should agree to keep her here with restrictions and such I see no problem in keeping her and avoiding such a gruesome solution-"

"This is an outrage!" Hera screamed "Zeus! I will NOT ALLOW THIS!"

"Regardless of whether you _allow it_ or not, the decision will be made by _everyone-_not just you."

A large mass of storm clouds was gathering over Olympus and as Zeus and Hera turned back to their young son to settle the dispute once and for all, they found that there was nothing there…no Apollo. No nothing. For the first time, the crafty sun-god had out-crafted his parents and was now running down the hallways of the unearthly palace trying to get far enough away from them.

Success. Now all he had to do was convince everyone else that the mortal girl must stay…but how?

XXx

He was…begging?

He was the great God of the sun and he was practically _begging_?

Ares, bloody god of war, sat upon his throne of black onyx embedded in skulls and cushioned in the tanned flesh of foolish mortals (of whom he'd slain) in astonishment. Usually his half-brother wanted nothing to do with him. Apparently he was too "brutish" for his tastes. Then again, flaying the poor Marsyas because he lost to a game of musical "I'm better than you" wasn't exactly civil either… But now he was standing right here, shooting one proposition after another to gain _his_ favor.

…If his jaw could drop lower-it would. Currently it was resting on the marble-tile floor.

"I'll lend you half of my cattle if you agree to…"

This was about the girl. The mortal he before him had brought into their happy, little home. Even though he never really kept track of the rumors that flew about here, this one was just too much to ignore. He swore that if they could, even the WALLS of Heaven would jabber about it. A mortal in Heaven was not something that happened. There was a strict policy about that. Not even the Father, Zeus, broke that rule…though he broke many, many others.

"So, what do you say?"

He stared at him blankly for a second and then blinked, shaking his head "You brought a mortal _here_?"

His half-brother sighed "Were you even paying attention?"

The war God's eyes told him "no". Like his father, Ares took on that blank stare whenever he didn't understand anything or (in his case) was being disciplined by Athena (as opposed to Hera).

"Listen," Apollo said, just a _tad_ bit frustrated with what he considered the lump of ignorance incarnate before him "In exchange for your vote and the vote of your mother, I'll _give_ you half of my cattle!"

"What do I need cattle for? I have no need for mere cattle."

No mere cattle? These were the sun god's cattle! _HIS CATTLE._

The golden-haired youth was now officially beyond his pushing-point. Usually his patience was vast (especially with foolish mortals) but with Ares…it was a completely different story altogether. What could he offer his blood-thirsty brother to tempt him into the deal? There was really nothing he could think of that would interest him.

"I'll give you…"

"Give me something of value, brother. Give me Mjolnir, Megingjord, and Jarn Griepr…plus half the royalties that include that human pet of yours staying."

Apollo narrowed his eyes "You mean…half custody of the girl, should she stay?"

"Yes." He replied

"Why?"

"Because…"

"That's not an answer."

"Well, you see," Ares started, scratching his head and taking on a slightly embarrassed tone "Aphrodite is into…well, you know…"

A mental image flashed in Apollo's head and even though he was thoroughly disgusted, part of him… No! He shook his head slightly to get it out of his head. He wanted the girl to himself and he certainly did not want to share with the Hoochy Goddess and He-Of-Little-Ball-Size. No way he would share. But…maybe if he excepted at least now the proposition that Ares wanted, he could at least ensure the girl's place here on Olympus. He was caught between a rock and a hard place…but without his half-brother's help, that girl would be Hera's pincushion.

"Agreed. But you realize that Thor will be very upset with you…and I'm not going to assume responsibility for your "practical joke"."

"Let me worry about that, Apollo. You worry about _your_ end of the deal."

Xxx

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

The yelling of a particularly enraged girl carried down through the hallways and corridors of the Palace of the Sky. It rampaged and thundered and probably scared away the gentle breeze that had been playing about because suddenly the weather pattern changed and now Olympus was experiencing an unseasonable thunderstorm.

And thunderstorms were impossible because it was always perfect Spring in Olympus. Always.

"Where AM I?!"

Rushing down the so-white-it-hurt marble halls, Apollo reached the scene that led him to rethink his admission of the mortal into his and his family's realm: A nymph, young and fair, was being held captive by a very wrathful-looking girl. She held the poor demi-diety in place by way of leather cord around her neck, strangling the air out of the servant who was just trying to do her job. He would've like to have dealt with it privately but, at that moment, it seemed everyone on the face of this existence just popped up for no apparent reason. Hebe, one of his many step-sisters and head of all servants within the household suddenly appeared, accompanied by a massive horde of other servants. Dionysus stood in the background along with Hermes.

What were those two doing together? Probably partying.

A strangled sob brought Apollo back from his thoughts and his attention became once again focused upon her-his "pet".

"Stop!"

It seemed as if the act of strangulation had fully absorbed her because the glaze of psychosis had momentarily left her eyes upon hearing his voice and now she noticed that she had drawn a crowd. A rather large crowd.

She glared at them, an inferno blazing behind her almost red irises and exclaimed "Where _the fuck_ am I?! Who are you fuckers?!"

Sucking in some air and restraint, Apollo took a deep breath and continued "Stop this and be calm. We don't mean to hurt you."

"LIKE HELL YOU DON'T!"

"Calm down."

"No!"

"I mean it-"

"So do I!"

This was the first time he'd ever had the pleasure (or not) of arguing with a mortal. It was unpleasant and he felt like pulling back his golden bow right now and shutting the girl up for good-but he didn't. If he killed her, it would be received as irresponsibility on his part and he would be the laughing stock of Olympus. He couldn't afford that. Not now. Not ever.

"You need to calm down." He replied in a steady, even tone

And that just made her even more enraged.

"No, you bastard! You tell me-"

"So be it…" The God of the Sun answered in the same type of voice (somewhat reminiscent of a parent disciplining a bi-polar teenager who's about to create another Hiroshima) "You forced my hand."

"I _what_?"

Suddenly the brown, leather cord she'd been using as a weapon took on a life of it's own, moving much like that of a snake. It wriggled out of her grasp and began it's way up her arm. She screamed, shaking her appendage wildly and doing a sort of unidentified dance. It was the dance that Hephaestus made when he smashes his hand on accident with his hammer. (Yes, surprisingly…the Greek Gods made mistakes. It's just…no one was alive long enough to tell of them)

"What the fuck is on me?! Get it off! GET IT OFF!"

But the animated cord would not fall off. It snaked up her arm with an eerie elegance and slithered to her neck where it coiled around and turned into gold. It was a collar.

"Now you are mine and I will tell you only once to _calm down_."

A strange sensation came over her and she found herself miles away from her body, observing herself as if watching a movie. She watched herself stop instantly, dropping the girl she'd held captive. Some of the servants behind the golden-haired youth rushed to this person's aid. They were saying something…but she couldn't make it out. She couldn't really hear anything anymore-just the strange sound of _his_ voice. His voice…held her captive somehow and the more she fought, the hazier everything became for her.

He turned to face her, eyes like the clear sky piercing into her like a sword, and his words echoed into her head. "_Come to me_."

Her other self, the self she had no control over, walked with forced steps-almost as if someone was holding her back. It wasn't a smooth walk… It was jerky in movement. The only reason for that though was the fact that the disembodied spirit of the girl was screaming in defiance and trying to say anything or do anything that would stop her body's progress towards the boy who looked a little over her age.

"Stop! No, don't go!"

But no one could hear her. No one at all it seemed.

The boy wrapped his arms around the girl's body and touched the collar almost sensuously. She didn't like the look in his eyes. It was familiar somehow…

"You are mine now. Understand? Everything I tell you, you'll do. Every command, you'll follow. Do not try fight me. I will ultimately win. If you want to stay alive here, you'll have to be a good little mortal and obey."

Her consciousness was coming back to her. She could feel herself inside her body again and she could feel his arms around her. The instant awareness kicked in, she struggled and fought.

"Let go of me you pervert!"

There were some snickers in the background as even though the servants had left to tend the wounded nymph, Dionysus and Hermes were still there, watching.

"You have quite a pet there, Apollo." One of them said. She couldn't make out who though because the grip on her was so strong that she couldn't turn around. She'd never met anyone with such a grip before.

"At least I _have_ a pet." The blonde retorted, "What happened to _your last pet_, _Hermes?"_

The other ignored that comment and spoke again. "We've come to an agreement, Dionysus and I-"

"Oh?"

"Yes, we will vote to keep her if we get _a little_ something in return."

Apollo was beginning to wonder if this "pet" of his was worth all this trouble.

"And what would that be?"

"Share. We want a share in the royalties that accompany the pet staying with us. Every week we will switch "masters", shall we say?" Hermes said, silver tongue quick and fluid like water "Of course, you're first, Apollo. We'll settle out the order after we get her to stay…"

Anything for a vote, at least for now.

So as not to bring about suspicion of his honesty and validity of the agreement to said terms, he acted unsure "Well, I just don't know…"

"LET ME GO!"

Hermes quickly walked over to the girl in Apollo's arms. It was almost with inhuman speed that he _walked._ Just _walked._ He tipped her chin towards him, staring into her eyes with a coolness of attitude that annoyed the Hell out of her. His cool, green eyes reminded her of Xiagio. Where was Xiagio, by the way?

"But you do know how to pick them, don't you?" The new boy said more to himself than to anyone else "I've never seen such defiance in the face of the Gods before-"

"Gods my ass! You're nothing but a bunch of-"

Apollo rolled his eyes and shook his head. Would this mortal never get the hint? Spoke when spoken to. Do what is asked. Be a good little mortal. Was that hard? Was that a hard thing to require of her? After all, he was being charitable! With a whisper in the girl's ear, he shut her up however.

"_Sleep_."

"How many others have you convinced to take her?" The golden god asked his fellow brother (a certain brother of whom he had informal tensions with. It was supposed to be over but…Apollo never forgot the time when his cattle had been stolen) "How many are with us?"

"I have pretty much everyone except your sister, Poseidon, Athena, Hades, and Demeter."

"I can see my sister...but…Demeter?"

"I think she's still upset about the whole "Demophon" ordeal."

"Oh…"

"But don't worry, _big brother Hermes_ has got it all under control!"

Before Apollo could make a smart remark or say something in his defense, both Hermes and Dionysus were gone. They were like smoke, those two-especially Hermes. Here one second, gone the next.

"It's not like I'm worried…" He said, looking down at the unconscious girl wrapped up in his arms. He put a hand through her unruly locks of hair and combed them back. "Or anything…"

Xxx

**Ham337dd: **I'm glad to hear that! I'm trying to make it as interesting as I can. Trust me, it'll get even more interesting…er…est…as time goes on!

**FoxLuvr: **You know, as I wrote this chapter I kept thinking to myself why Apollo wasn't that angry. Well, if he'd just killed her when he had the chance then he wouldn't be dealing with all of his family wanting bribes. I mean, if you were as high of a god as him, you'd want to kept your failure under wraps too…wouldn't you? Now Merle has become a "pet project" per say and her behavior and accomplishments reflect directly on him. But that doesn't mean Apollo won't torture her… Oh no, we haven't gotten to those fun parts yet!

Apollo is still angry. Apollo won't forget what happened…despite the fact that now lust has hit him where he's the weakest.

**FanXforever: **(takes deep breath) It's finally…updated. (wipes away sweat) Sorry it took so long!

**Haretrigger: **You know, I eat there often! You and I should prance on down there some time and order up some hot wings and enough tequila to drown ourselves in!

Yes, Merle gets herself a "boyfriend". In fact, I think she gets so many that she'll likely explode once she's informed of what's going on. But before they tell her, they may need to put her in a straightjacket.


	4. The Fool

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Greek Mythology. I do not own Absolute Boyfriend. I also don't any of the cultural references that you may read in this story…including Mr. T.

**Author's Note: **How long has it been? "Forever" sound about right? Sorry, but I lost my computer and a large amount of inspiration shortly after my last post. But luckily, I got both those things back. I finally decided upon a name for "box-boy". I hope you like it! In this chapter, you get to see a little bit more of the Olympian Gods and a small tidbit of Merle's past. It's also the largest chapter I've written for this story so far…so please enjoy!

Oh, and thank you all for reviewing! It really kept my spirits up that some people like this fanfiction. As always, I appreciate ideas, opinions, questions, and constructive criticism! If you have any, please feel free to review and I will get back to you next post.

Side note: Words in _italics_ are the thoughts of Merle. Words in _**bold italics**_ are memories.

Another annoying side note: In Chapter One, it was mentioned that Kingdom Hearts the AU whore would somehow work its way into the plot. I gave it a large amount of consideration and have now concluded that the whole "world traveling" thing is going to be as close as it gets to Kingdom Hearts. Sorry guys.

**Chapter Four: The Fool**

It was an impossibly glorious sunset; carnation pink and deep, royal purple made up the soft, wispy clouds that wandered lazily across the sky. The sun was an imitation of a ruby red grapefruit cut in half, it's juicy flesh exposed to the world. Bright, dandelion yellow played along the horizon and melted into a perfect, baby blue hue that colored the whole of the firmament above. It was like a burning painting. It was like the ending to some sappy romance novel.

_It was like that time…_

The hues of Heaven's dome were reflected all around her, glowing on the salt white marble of Olympus-the grand home of the Gods. Everything nearly sparkled with light and color…even the thin, gauze-like material that fluttered about in the gentle breeze. They didn't even block out the rays of the sun much less the glittery glow of this whole place. They were useless in terms of practicality and she was beginning to suspect that the "drapes" reflected their owners as well.

"What's your favorite color?"

"…"

"Mine's black. Where were you born?"

"…"

She would've glared at him if she weren't too busy squinting and guarding her eyes from excessive illumination. The boy from the box hadn't stopped talking since they'd been reunited about an hour ago. And as the minutes marched on by, the topics got increasingly more intrusive. Like this whole "let's get to know each other" thing. After the first five or ten minutes of silence, one would think that she wasn't going to reply. Wrong. This only fueled his mouth. It was like watching a dam crack and seeing the wall of water that exploded from it. She was starting to develop a twitch in her right eye. That definitely wasn't good.

"C'mon-"

"**C'mon, Merxel!"**

"_**No."**_

"_**C'mon! It'll be really fu-uun!"**_

"_**No."**_

"_**Do it for meee?"**_

_**A beautiful sky was a rare event on the planet of Medias. Usually the weather was overcast or pouring cats and dogs. Not literally. That would be weird. It reminded her of Chicago or Oregon. Or maybe even the rainforest. It was always wet and green that way. But today was pleasantly different. Today had been a clear, wonderful, beautiful day-and she was spending it with the most horribly obnoxious, perky person in the world: Xiagio. She had to remind herself why she was here. Why WAS she here? Oh yeah. Blackmail. It was either this or a particularly painful mission to a place called Magix: a planet supposedly teeming with fairies, princesses, and all of that "Ever After" crap. And should she had chosen option number two, she would've been shipped out of I.D.A.F.A with a pair of pink wings, a tiara, and a ruined reputation. Sometimes she hated her Boss. Where was the department of Human Resources when you needed it? **_

"_**Please, please, please, please-"**_

_**Then again, maybe sugary sweet fairy princesses would be more favorable than this. At least with them she could dress up as a witch and terrorize the whole place while cackling at the top of her lungs and riding a broomstick and throwing poison apples like grenades down at-**_

"_**With sugar and cream and nuts and sprinkles-"**_

_**Then summoning the spirit of darkness to overtake the land while she is crowned Queen of Catastrophe and then enslaving the land in eternal misery and sorrow-**_

"_**On top?"**_

_**Nah. That was too much work. Besides, she would technically have to have authorization for that course of action…and something told her that reeking absolute chaos on a planet she was supposed to help wasn't going to make the higher-ups at I.D.A.F.A smile. Or give her a raise. Or a vacation. Or another job after they fired her.**_

"_**Let me think" She replied, giving the illusion that she was actually considering her friend's desperate plea. She placed her hands upon her hips, lifting her eyes skywards to meet the sunset. The sunset met her gaze with a symphony of color. "Hmm…"**_

_**Unfortunately, Xiagio didn't give her time to come up with an answer. Instead of waiting like any normal person would, the hyperactive girl grabbed Merle's hand and dragged her inside.**_

"C'mon, say something! Isn't it a pretty sunset? I think it is. What about you? Don't you think it's kinda romantic?"

That twitch was getting worse. "It's just a distortion of the sun's rays caused by pollution in the atmosphere. There's nothing romantic about it."

_I was the one that caused such a "romantic" sunset with my crash landing. Irony. Don't you love it? _

The box-boy tilted his head slightly and smiled warmly, seemingly oblivious to the ice in her voice. Perhaps he was deaf-or selectively deaf. Or maybe he was just stupid. "It's pretty. Just like you."

Yeah, it was because he was stupid…and that twitch was reaching it's maximum.

"_**What pretty young girls we have here!" The woman exclaimed, moving over to the green-eyed Xiagio with enthusiasm. **_

" _**It's been such a long time!" **_

_**Merle watched as the two embraced each other like they were lifelong friends. Perhaps they were. She didn't presume to know Xiagio or her personal life. **_

"_**And who do we have here?" **_

"_**My friend. Remember, I was telling you about her?"**_

"_**Oh yes. I remember."**_

_**She fixed her eyes upon them, shifting her sight from one person to another. "…You told her about me?"**_

"_**Of course!" The green-eyed she-devil announced.**_

_**Lady Scarlet's Psychic Readings was a tiny shop that called itself home within the arms of the super metropolis, Omnia Sol. It was a city by the sea and its steady and unconventional rhythm was only outclassed by the crash of the cold waves upon the shore. Originally it was said that the city started out as a small, fishermen's cove during the "Dark Period", the time before dimensional travel and the Worlds Alliance. But now it had bloomed into Medias's most prosperous city-a lovely rose in a garden of jealous weeds. The shop was located on the pier, infamous for being the more "shady" of neighborhoods in Omnia Sol. Around here, it wasn't strange to suddenly go missing or find the corpse of some poor, unfortunate soul floating face down in the water. At first she was surprised that Xiagio would take her to such a place. And to be honest, for a while there, she was sort of paranoid (she found her hands were straying to the sides of her belt where she kept hidden dual pistols, commonly issued for those in Section X). Maybe this past year of no "presents" from her missions had worn on the highly excitable girl and now she was going to pay for her high crimes with her blood. That was, until they stopped in front of the shop. Secretly, she let out a sigh of relief. Sometimes her imagination would run away with her like that. **_

"_**Please, come with me Ms. Merxel." The woman gestured for her to enter the back room of the shop, marked with a stereotypical overhanging of red, crystalline hippie beads. **_

"_**It's Merle."**_

_**The front hadn't been much to look at. There were a few crystals hanging in front of the display window along with religious statues of gods and goddesses that were unknown to her. One of them had in its silver clutches a bundle of dried herbs and white flowers. But the back was a different story all together. As soon as she had crossed the threshold separating the two spaces, she felt like she had walked into a strange, new world. The room was significantly larger, for one. And it was significantly red…er. The walls were painted a deep crimson. From the ceiling hung varied bolts of silk and velvet of different degrees of scarlet. They seemed suspended in time and space- like delicate spider webs. The carpet was non-visible for it was choked out with the huge amount of blood red, Arabic-style rugs and large, scarlet furs of a rosette pattern from what looked, to Merle, like a bear's. All along the floor, pilled haphazardly on top of tables, comfy crimson chairs, couches, and other such furniture were mounds of ancient texts, crystals of all shapes, colors, and sizes, and large, red, pillar candles…it's wax dripping down and creating solidified puddles and streams of scarlet. In the air was the heavy and deep scent of some kind of herb-or was it a flower? She didn't know. She just knew it smelt good. **_

"_**Please take a seat." **_

_**She looked over to where the woman now stood. A table had been cleared off; the books, crystals, and candles removed from its surface. The auburn-haired girl nodded and obliged, sitting Indian-style on one end of the table while Lady Scarlet chose the other end. **_

"_**By looking into your eyes I can already tell that you've had a hard life."**_

"_**All that by looking into my eyes, huh?" Merle smirked, a sarcastic tone playing in her voice.**_

_**She did not smile back. Instead she brought out a deck of cards that had upon their backs a pattern of three roses wrapped in sharp, thorny vines that twisted and turned. With hands that looked way too delicate for her body, she laid out five from the pile; all of them face down and in the formation of a circle. One more lay in the middle. **_

"_**Before we begin, I'm warning you now that what the cards reveal may not be what you want to hear or know. Do you still-"**_

"_**Yeah, whatever. Just get it over with."**_

_**The woman's gaze pierced into her for a second and somehow the girl felt like someone was taking a microscope to her soul. Unconsciously, she squirmed in her seat. Breaking her ocular stranglehold, the fortuneteller flipped over the first card-the card that lay in the middle of the ring. **_

"_**The Fool." **_

_**Upon it's glossy surface was the image of a young man, dressed in bright yellow and orange. He held in his hand a crudely made traveling pack fashioned from a stick and green cloth. At his side was a shaggy, brown dog. Merle leaned in closer, examining the illustration more. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized that this smiling, joyful man was a couple of seconds away from stepping off the side of a steep and dangerous cliff. And the damn dog was about to follow its master right into the teeth of death. Stupid dog.**_

"_**This is you."**_

_**She narrowed her eyes. Being called a "fool" by a deck of cards was just asking for said deck to get a smoking bullet hole in it. **_

_**Lady Scarlet moved her attention from that card to the next, choosing the one besides it. She flipped it over and it revealed a rather disturbing image: a large, ancient, stone tower being destroyed by a brilliant bolt of lightning from the Heavens. Chunks of rock from the top of the tower crumbled into ash and fell downwards along with two people: a man and a woman. They were falling to their deaths, about to be crushed by the sharp rocks below. The sea about them churned wildly, the white crests of the waves crushing all in its path. There was no mercy for these people. The best they could hope for was to be brained by the stones and die quickly so they wouldn't have to feel any pain. **_

"_**The Tower. This is your past. There was great destruction and chaos-just like in this picture. So much so that you felt like the world was going to end. There was no mercy for you…like the hands of the gods were against you."**_

_**At this point, Merle looked away. She averted her attention off the card and to the polished surface of the dark, cherry wood table. **_

"_**Shall I go on?"**_

"…_**Whatever."**_

_**The woman took the response as a "yes" and continued. This time she selected the card right next to the one that so displeased the girl. **_

"_**The Death card. This is what influenced your past."**_

_**Upon the card was a picture of a rotting skeleton wrapped in the pitch-black cloth of a cloak. It sat upon a white, impossibly thin horse that looked like it hadn't eaten in the whole of its entire lifetime. In some places there were holes in the flesh and you could see it's ivory bones poking out. In the right hand of the demon skeleton was a sharp scythe, in the other was a corpse of a young girl. All around the figure people fell to their knees, begging for release, as maggots and ravens ate their eyes and limbs. The girl's eyes widened and automatically her hand moved to touch the figure of the dead girl in the arms of the monster. Her fingertips brushed the illustration almost lovingly.**_

"_**You lost something very precious to you, yes? Something you feel you can never regain back. But with death there comes life and although something old died, something new was born. The cycle of life and death goes on and on…try not to always dwell on-"**_

"_**Next card." Merle growled as her fists clenched tightly in the deep pockets of her gray, hooded, zip-up sweatshirt.**_

"_**As you wish." Lady Scarlet said, obliging her wish. "This brings us back to you, The Fool. You're about to jump off a cliff. You're about to step into the unknown. You don't know where you're going or what will guide you…maybe you don't even know your destination. This is the beginning of a new journey."**_

_**Compared to the other two cards, The Fool looked inviting. She would now gladly jump off the nice, welcoming cliff with him and Fido too.**_

_**The fortuneteller chose the card that lay directly above The Fool card, the one highest in the circle. She flipped the card over slowly as if relishing every moment. And even if she wasn't taking any particular joy in this, the pessimistic side of the auburn-haired girl's nature told her she was. She peered over and looked at the illustration on the card, her gut twisting in anticipation of another, more disturbing scene. This time there was none. This time it was a picture of a wheel being turned by three females. One was a girl-child not a day over five, one was a teenager who was coming into her own as a woman, and the last one was an old, wrinkled crone who looked over a thousand years of age. All around the wheel were representations of the seasons: grains of wheat for the Autumn months, barren trees and ice for the Winter months, fresh flowers of pink hue for the renewal months of Spring, and the fiery sun for the Summer months. This wheel, turned by the three, existed in the cosmic wasteland of space where the stars burned brightly about it. **_

"_**The Wheel of Fortune. This is what influences your present. Dare I say that the Fates have taken an interest in you… Something unexpected is about to happen. And who knows, it may throw a wrench in your wheel."**_

_**Merle looked up at the woman. "What do you mean 'something unexpected'?"**_

_**Lady Scarlet regarded the girl coolly "Your friend didn't pay me enough to answer THAT question."**_

_**She grumbled, shoving a piece of stray auburn hair out of her face.**_

_**Without asking, the woman turned over the next card. And this card was different from the rest! Unlike the others that portrayed an underlying threat, no matter how hidden underneath false pretenses (like a smiling, happy-go-lucky suicidal and his faithful manic depressive pet or a mysterious, non threatening wheel that was going to crush your hopes and dreams), this one held nothing of the sort. It was an illustration of a naked man and woman wrapped up in each other's arms. A warm smile was spread on both of their faces…almost like it was the same smile, only on two different surfaces. All about them lay red roses and lavender that seemed to serve as their bed. A bed of fresh flowers. **_

"_**Well! I would've never expected THIS card!" The fortuneteller exclaimed clapping both hands together. "The Lovers! This is your future. It means that soon you will find your true-"**_

_**There was a certain fire in her eyes as Merle flipped over the card so that it's back was shown and the picture was hidden. **_

"_**What's the matter? I would've thought you would take this as good news! Everyone wants to meet that special someone-"**_

"_**Well, I don't. And I'm not sitting and playing your little game anymore. I have more important things to do." The auburn-haired girl announced in a voice that obviously portrayed a homicidal level of annoyance. **_

"_**I still have one more card to show you! Hey-"**_

"_**What a crock."**_

_What a crock… The whole thing stunk worse than a "get rich quick" scheme. _

The raven-haired boy moved closer to her, tugging gently on a lock of her long hair. His other hand lightly brushed her arm in what was supposed to be a tender gesture. "Hey, are you alright? You haven't spoken in awhile and I'm concerned about-"

She turned around slowly, her eyes narrowed. But she wasn't looking at him. She was looking beyond him. Confused for a second, he then turned around to see a slim girl in a pale gossamer garment trimmed in gold. Her arms were bare but her wrists were decorated with crystal bangles that, when the light hit them just right, became iridescent. Her ebony, straight hair was decorated with crystal raindrops that also took on an iridescent sheen.

_What was it with always being surrounded by beautiful people anyways? Was there some kind of beauty pageant going on that I wasn't aware of? To this day, I still put my money on that theory because it was kinda getting ridiculous. Watch my self-confidence die._

"I am Iris of the rainbow and herald of the Gods. I shall be escorting you to the throne room of the Gods for your trial." The girl stated in a soft and polite tone.

_At that moment, she reminded me of an executioner. Now all she needed was that funny, black hood and a guillotine. Let them eat cake, right?_

"And what about him?" She pointed behind her to where the boy was.

"He has already been taken care of. He is now under direct rule of Lord Hephaestus."

"Good enough. Let's go."

"Hey! Wait-"

_For some reason, I felt sorry for him. I don't know why. Maybe he had that whole "lost, little puppy" thing going on for him. One small kindness wouldn't hurt anything, right?_

Merle turned around, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was sort of awkward for her to try and comfort someone. She didn't feel she was very good at it. "Don't worry about me, alright? I'll be back in a minute."

_You know, that's what they all say in horror movies just before they die. I was hoping he wouldn't catch on…_

xXx

She could see it sinking beneath the mountains, finding it's home in the west. It's ruby light flashed upon the mirror-like, polished surface of the marble floor before disappearing completely. The sun was now gone. And somehow, she felt her hope was fading too.

"The trial of Apollo and his mortal pet shall now begin. Please, mortal; bow your head in respect, as the Gods will now take to their thrones."

_Apollo…_

'_**Case File: 217,580,900**_

_**Section twenty-one, sub-section ninety-nine double A, area forty-six.**_

_**Mission assignment: Retrieve Apollo's Lyre.'**_

…_How could I have been so blind?_

"_**You have quite a pet there, Apollo."**_

The auburn-haired girl's eyes widened momentarily and she stared at the boy who stood a little off to her right, taking in his appearance. Usually it was the first thing she did on a mission (take in a person's appearance and other such characteristics. Though it may be a little presumptuous, she usually found that her assumptions were pretty dead on. This habit of hers had saved her life many-a-time.) but…in all of the confusion, it must have slipped her mind (And at the moment, she was kicking herself for such a mental lapse.) His blonde hair was decorated with a crown of golden spikes that gave one the impression of the day's celestial lamp-or that he had a lot of horns growing out of his cranium. Upon his wrists were armbands and bracelets of gold and his fingers were laden with rings of the same, yellow metal.

_He was either one of two things, I figured: the "god of the sun" of which I was seeking or he was trying really hard to look like the Greek version of Mr. T. Both of which could've been correct. Suddenly, I felt really dumb for not catching on sooner. _

The god of the sun glared at her, icy blue eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Bow your head!" He whispered, his voice held an edge of frustration in it. Actually, a lot of frustration.

Her body reacted for her, her head bowing without her command. It was that damn collar, working it's infernal magic. She glared at the floor, hating her helplessness, and clenching her fists in the pockets of her gray, hooded sweatshirt. As she did so she felt something thin, stiff, and papery inside. Her left hand wrapped around it…

"_**Please, if you have any hope for the future left inside of you…take this card." **_

_**She was just about to part the curtain of scarlet beads when she turned around slowly. Her mouth was set in a thin line, her whole body tense like she was preparing for some unseen blow by an invisible assailant. "…Hope? Lady, if you are truly psychic then you know that I don't… I don't have a future."**_

She could see it reflected in the marble she stood upon…a sight that would've sent any normal person into awe and amazement. But she wasn't normal, was she? So there was no "awe and amazement". Before her, the empty, richly crafted thrones of gold, silver, and other such precious materials were filled. And like their thrones, each individual's entrance was both grand and unique: one of them phased through the cold, shiny floor like a ghost, claiming a seat made of carved, gray stone. She could see the outline of figures etched in the unforgiving rock but could not figure out what they were or represented. Another materialized out of a large flock of pristine, white doves and took her seat upon a throne made of gold and rosy-hued seashells. She looked like a model-her hair was a shiny, pale blonde that fell in curls past her waist. Her skin was as white as the marble that made up the majority of the "court room". A pang of jealousy hit her. The words "Plain Jane" flashed in her mind. From a tempest of wild wind, the boy with Xiagio-like, green eyes sat in a throne next to a woman with blazing, red hair and finely made armor. She held in her hand a spear.

_I kept wondering if that was the thing they were going to impale me with if this trial bullshit went badly. _

One by one, they all came-flashy entrance and all. She counted thirteen (although, the auburn-haired girl noticed that the thirteenth did not have a seat and instead, sat upon the stone steps leading up to the twelve thrones). Seven men and six women.

_I guess when you're a "god" you're allowed an "oh-em-gee flashy light show" and a fancy chair. Because that's all they really were: fancy chairs. Showoffs._

A soft rumbling sound like thunder filled the air and at first she thought that a storm had begun to brew in the sky-and then she heard the words within it. "You may now show your face, mortal."

_Double showoffs._

Her face lifted, her chin canted upwards and her eyes blazed with resolve. There were mixed reactions, judging from the looks upon everyone's faces. The scarlet-haired woman and a woman of white-blonde hair, sitting upon a "moon motif" throne, both had a frown that seemed so large that it hung from their face and fell to the floor. Or, that could just be her imagination. The woman to the right of the elderly-looking male who's voice rumbled like a storm had her arms crossed in front of her chest. She looked about ready to murder someone. Most likely, it was her. Merle glanced back at that spear again. Some of the men in the group looked pleased…too pleased. In particular, the green-eyed god that she had encountered earlier. Upon his face was a knowing smirk and a chauvinistic, male attitude that she just wanted to rip and tear to shreds.

_If this was truly the Apollo I was looking for, I decided then that I was going to have to suck it up to accomplish my goal. No matter how humiliating. I was assigned that mission and dammnit…I was going to walk into my Boss's office with that lyre and a grin on my face! I had never failed a mission before and I wasn't about to start then. I supposed that I would let them shine their egos at my expense-for the moment._

"_**Do you really believe that?"**_

"_**I know it."**_

The elderly man smiled, a twinkle in his eyes, and his voice rumbled again "I'm sure that all of you are aware of the situation regarding my son and this mortal girl. But before we cast our votes, I'd like to take this time to let us all ask questions of this girl. It is only fair that we gain her insight as well as retaining our own. I shall take my turn and ask the first question: Mortal, what is your name?"

_I really wished they would stop calling me "the mortal" or the "fool mortal" or the "mortal pet". It was insulting. _

She mentally drew in a deep breath and said in a calm voice "My name is Merle Tyrel Conlan."

"What a strange name…"

The woman with, what she figured, had homicidal tendencies spoke up immediately afterwards (almost cutting the man's comment off). Her tone was as cold as an iceberg. "Are you aware that _mortals_-

_Again with the "mortals" crap! I have a fucking name!_

"are not allowed upon our hallowed ground?"

"No, I was not aware of such a rule."

There was an audible murmur from the thirteen before her-some of them were wide eyed with shock. Some of them deepened the frown upon their features. The chauvinist to the right of Ms. Pointy Spear grinned like the Cheshire cat, white teeth flashing.

_I wanted to knock that fucking grin off his face with that spear._

"How could you not be aware of such a rule?"

"I'm not from around here."

"Where are you from?"

Her face fell into a semi-frown. "Some place far away from here."

He spoke up then, green eyes glowing with some secret knowledge "I assume you mean you come from beyond the West?"

Another audible rumble of whispers.

This was clearly a trap, she could tell. If she answered "yes" there might be dire consequences judging from the reaction of the "gods". If she answered "no" then they would keep pressing her for an exact location. She assumed that he was trying to disprove her ill knowledge of Olympus rules and regulations. But she wasn't sure… All she knew was that whoever this person was, he was a tricky motherfucker and that it would be extremely wise to keep all eyes on him at all times. So, in light of this, she decided to take the following course of action: "I…don't remember. Everything's hazy since the accident."

"_**Your future is hazy…fraught with trials. But, you do indeed have a future and it's in this card." The woman held up the card, it's back facing her so that she could not see what the picture held. **_

"What is the name of your male friend?" The woman who sat upon the shell throne asked, her finger twirling a long, gold lock. She got the image of a slutty, valley girl in her mind. It also didn't help her case that she was wearing an almost see-through linen gown that barely covered her butt cheeks.

_It was then I realized that my "friend' didn't have a name…at least, as far as I knew. This not-knowing thing had seemed to be becoming a trend. I hoped the fad would go away soon-just like I hoped pop boy bands would disappear forever._

"His name is Whiskey."

_So I made up a name for him._

She seemed pleased with that answer. The guy a couple of seats down from her who was sitting on a seat made entirely out of human bones and skulls didn't seem too happy though.

_It was the first thing I could think of! And hey, she liked it!_

"If you come from a different land like you say you do, then I'm assuming that you have no idea who we are or what we are. However, I'm also assuming that you have some form of deity in your homelands, correct?"

The red-head was calculated and meticulous in her question. Inwardly, the girl made a mental note of this. She was probably one of the more clever ones out of this bunch. She would have to be careful of her wording and tone of voice. "Your first assumption is correct. However…" Merle stated, rubbing her temples with her thumb and pointer finger for emphasis. "I do not _recall_ ever having any "deities" or "gods" that we worshipped in my homeland."

The thirteen were moved, once again, to murmur and whisper amongst themselves. This time, by far, was a much more animated series of mutters than the last two.

The woman with homicidal tendencies spoke up then. "So, I'm assuming that you, heretic, also suffer from lapses of judgment _as well_ as memory?"

"Excuse me?"

"You ran your…your metal abomination into a sacred grove of the god of the sun! For that alone, you should be destroyed!" She exclaimed, raising up out of her chair and pointing her finger accusingly at Merle.

"That is up to Apollo to decide." Said the man who possessed a thunderous voice.

The woman retorted "It is also for US to decide as well!"

The auburn-haired girl saw the elderly man secretly roll his eyes. She had only seen that expression used by frustrated husbands. This screaming hellcat must've been his loving wife.

_It must've sucked to be him. On all accounts, I found out that I was right later on. _

"Then, let us cast our votes." He said, waving his hand. As he did so, a deep, silver and gold bowl appeared from thin air. Within it contained a roaring, blue flame that moved gracefully like a ballerina or a traditional, Hawaiian dancer. It hovered in midair, just before the thirteen.

_It reminded me of that goblet in Harry Potter._

Unconsciously, she clutched at the object in her sweatshirt.

_Crap…_

The first to cast their vote into the flame was "the wife". She literally hurled the small piece of paper in it. She could've been a baseball star for the way she threw it.

_We all know what that vote was._

Several of the men cast their votes at once, the fire eating the thin pieces of paper up instantly. The man who had appeared as a ghost from beneath the ground glanced at her with cold, emotionless eyes before tossing his vote. She inwardly shuddered. The blonde, valley girl sauntered over to the flame, tapping her finger upon her full, lower lip as if giving this choice serious thought-then carelessly tossed it in the fire. Merle could tell from that moment that should she survive this, she wasn't going to develop a good or healthy relationship with her. Spear Lady impaled her decision on the point of her spear and thrust it into the blue flame. The implications were clear.

The last to cast their vote was the thirteenth that sat upon the steps. She was a middle-aged woman with graying brown hair that was pulled back into a loose bun. Instead of the fancy clothes that her counterparts wore, she chose a simple gown of earthy brown and a neat, conservative gold trim. "Before I cast my vote, I have one question to ask you, Merle."

_I braced myself. This could possibly help me or hurt me. I was hoping for the "help" option. _

The woman stared at her. She noticed that this woman possessed a softness to her eyes. A warmness that she had not seen upon any of the others much less many in her lifetime. They seemed to be the eyes of a mother-although, she wasn't very sure if "mother" was the correct term. Nurturer. Maybe that was a better word. She glanced back to the golden boy who had been so silent through this entire thing for a moment or two before focusing her attention to the woman again.

_He looked stressed. Not that I cared at the time._

"Why did you come here?"

"_**I doubt my whole future is held within one tiny, little card."**_

_**There was that soul-piercing stare again. Again, Merle squirmed. **_

"_**Then why did you come here?" The woman asked.**_

"_**Because…" **_

"Because I'm looking for someone." This time she gave a completely truthful answer. For some reason, she felt no ill-will towards this person. No hostile thoughts or snide, sarcastic remarks that played themselves in her head. "Someone…important to me."

"_**Because I…" She couldn't finish the sentence. Anger and dark hatred bubbled up to the surface. Before it became too much for her to control, she grabbed the card from the fortuneteller's hand and stuffed it in her pocket. With that, she stomped out of the room, leaving Lady Scarlet to her deck of cards.**_

"_**I hope you find who you're looking for…" The woman whispered.**_

"I hope you find who you're looking for." She said before adding her slip of paper to the fire.

The fire that was held within the mystical bowl suddenly self-extinguished. The object hung in midair for a second or two before obediently floating over to the elderly man's grasp. He dipped his hands in it and pulled out a semi-scorched paper, the edges of it brown and charcoal black. The parchment was opened and she looked up at the elderly man's face in order to gauge what the verdict was. Unfortunately, there was no emotion on his face to make assumptions off of. This made her even more nervous and she tried to calm herself down as much as she could. "The wife" smirked, satisfaction upon her features. "In the matter of Apollo and the mortal, Merle…this court voted…"

_I kept on thinking: Please vote yes. Please vote yes. Please vote yes._

There was a tense moment. To the auburn-haired girl, it seemed that the very world stood still and that time itself had stopped. Her breath caught in her throat-or maybe the collar around her neck was too tight. She clenched her fists even harder-her left hand wrapping around the mystery in her pocket, somehow giving her a measure of comfort.

_This was it. This was the moment of truth. It was either live or die._

"in favor Apollo and Merle!"

_The answer was "live"._

"WHAT?!"

"Well, I guess that settles it-"

"YOU SET THIS WHOLE THING UP!" Homicidal wife roared, throwing her hands up into the air.

"I don't know what you're talking about, my dear one." The elderly man stated, giving a small shrug. "_I _did no such thing."

_I was shocked. I thought for sure I was going to get the spear. The thought: They better pay me extra for this back at I.D.A.F.A. occurred to me then. Of course, I'm stilling waiting for that raise. _

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" The earth started to tremble with the woman's anger and Merle almost toppled over.

"Now, now, honey. We voted fair and square… You have to respect the decision of the masses. It is our policy to make choices as a _family_, remember?"

"Family?! FAMILY?! SINCE WHEN HAVE WE EVER-" The blood was rushing to her face and the auburn-haired girl swore she did a perfect impression of the "Airhead" candy logo. Or a screaming teapot. Or a two-year old child who was told "no". Without another word, the woman stomped out of the throne room, each footfall causing the foundation beneath them all to quake.

The elderly man continued as if nothing had happened-

_Despite his crazy "family", this guy seemed pretty calm. I wondered if he had to deal with this a lot._

"However, since we all chose to keep this girl here _as a family_, I think we should ALL take part in this _as a family_. Therefore, I decree by heavenly mandate that each of us have exactly _one_ week with her. After the end of each week, she shall switch over to a new "keeper"."

"_**Share. We want a share in the royalties that accompany the pet staying with us. Every week we will switch "masters", shall we say?"**_

_That suddenly clicked. It HAD been a set-up all along! However, I didn't like the way this plan was sounding…_

"In fact, I have a list right here of the order in which everyone will help take care of our little…_guest._" He smirked and waved his hand again, passing it before the paper that held the fateful vote upon it. The paper thusly crumpled and transformed into an olden scroll. The kind you see in cartoons or at Medieval Times or perhaps at a rare bookstore. Very carefully, he opened it up and appeared to be reading silently. "Since it was Apollo that brought Merle to us in the first place…he is the one who has her for the first week. "

"Erm," She interrupted weakly, raising her right hand in the air a little like it was kindergarten "Just…_how long_ am I staying here?"

"Until Apollo feels that you have returned that which you've taken from him. If you ask me, we're all being very generous."

She glanced over at the sun god again and saw that he had a wide, white grin plastered upon his face. The auburn-haired girl thought she caught a glimpse of punishment plans forming in his mind.

_I could tell from the look on his face that being on equal ground with him would take a long time. No matter, as soon as I got my hands on that stupid musical thing of his, I was planning to be off of this hell-rock! Somehow…_

Apparently, victory was sweet for him. A little _too_ sweet for her liking…

_I hope he got cavities._

The elderly man snapped his fingers and the scroll disappeared and reappeared in the golden boy's hands. "See to it that she gets from place to place promptly. I wouldn't want any arguments popping up… I now officially declare the Court of the Gods out of session!"

As they had come in, so they left…in sparkles, lightshows, and flocks of birds. The thrones were now empty and without their god counterparts, they seemed sort of lonely and hollow. Apollo seemed to radiant satisfaction, his whole body seemed to glow like the sun. With that same wide grin upon his face, he turned to the auburn-haired girl and said in a viciously melodic voice "Welcome to your _new_ home, Merle!"

In response, she clutched her left hand around the thing in her pocket harder.

_Yeah, welcome "home". _

XXx

That night, as she sat up in the bed that was made for her, Merle stared at the card in her hand. The back of the thin, small object had a strange pattern of three roses wrapped in sharp, thorny vines.

"I…really am a fool."

XxX

**Foxluvr: **Hmn… Lightning Thief? I think I'll pick it up at the bookstore. Thanks for recommending it! And yes, it will certainly be interesting having such a wild element upon Olympus.

**Fanxforever: **She was taken to Olympus because of one of two things I believe. First of all, Apollo is partial towards girls and…vengeance is always sweeter when you take your time with it. Perhaps the only reason he spared her was to make her suffer. Who knows? Maybe it'll be revealed later on.

**Ham337dd: **Thank you!

**StarPup: **Thank you again! I'm glad you enjoyed reading this!

**Avalon Valour-Vantrair: **Thank you!

**Ilovecookies15:** I read all of your ideas and guess what? I LOVE all of them! Yes, I am seriously considering making Aphrodite lesbian…or at least bisexual. It would be a spoiler, but "box boy" or Whiskey…WILL get a lot of girlfriends. As for Apollo and Merle? Let's just say…that lyre is more important than everyone thinks.

**The Editor VI: **Heh. I was waiting for my very first flame! Thank you! You've made my day! Anyways, I got tired to being so disciplined with my work so I decided to piss a couple of people off and write this. Like it, hate it, or love it…I don't care. Thanks for reviewing anyways!

**The Pool of Realms: **Thank you and I will.


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